Post by cmesq on May 19, 2014 21:48:12 GMT -5
Bear with me please; this subject line might take some explanation. I think it's worth it though.
Something that has occurred to me over the last few years is that I am a big fan of sibling- or family-style relationships, or more generally of mentor-mentee relationships, in both comics and in media in general: I really loved the relationship between Boromir and Faramir in Lord of the Rings, for instance, and the Booker-Elizabeth dynamic in BioShock Infinite, not to mention the intricacies of the Bat Family, and of the Fantastic Four. (And before that, my gateway back into comics, after many years, was a desire to collect the Grant Morrision run on Teen Titans, since pre-New 52 Tim Drake is my all-time favorite comics character -- and MAN could I go off on how much I hate what the New 52 did to him, but I won't -- and Chris Claremont's X-Men.)
However, what I have noticed while examining this dynamic in fiction, and why I like it so much, is a facet of the family dynamic that is fairly lacking. In Big Two comics (which are the easiest to quantify), there are countless of examples of male mentor-male mentee (the various Robins being the most obvious), as well as several examples of male mentor-female mentee (Batgirl and Supergirl come to mind, albeit not so much New 52 Supergirl, as well as Wolverine and Kitty/Jubilee/whatever) and there are even some examples of FEMALE mentor, female mentee -- the most prominent I can think of off the top of my head being Diana and Donna/Cassie, or Storm and Kitty Pryde -- or, for that matter, the complex relationship between Emma Frost and Kitty.
However, there is little to no portrayal of a female mentor, MALE mentee, both in comics and in other mainstream media, as far as I can tell. The closest instance I can think of in Big Two comics is the Fantastic Four (Sue and Franklin), and even that is a bit unfair as it is portrayed in the midst of the overarching family dynamic of the series. (Similarly, there seemed to be a bit of this dynamic with Starfire, in the Morrison run on Teen Titans -- and, as I understand it, with the Outsiders as well -- but I'm only beginning to collect the Morrison TT run, and have never read the Outsiders, so I don't know if this is true or not.) Please -- PLEASE -- feel free to correct me if I am overlooking something, as I am more than a bit behind on stuff, and not as familiar as I'd with some areas of the Big Two; even if I am overlooking some small examples, I believe my overall point still stands that the surrogate mother-son type of relationship is underrepresented in comics -- and, I believe, in fiction as a whole. (There isn't, for example, and Wonder Woman and Wonder BOY dynamic.) I could cite examples for other media as well, but I hope the few I gave above (Boromir-Faramir, and Booker DeWitt as the player character -- or, for that matter, the Leon-Ashley relationship in Resident Evil 4, a personal favorite despite some of its stupidity) illustrate my point succinctly.
(This is not, I must clarify, meant to say that women aren't treated well as characters in media -- or, at least, that their treatment is improving; I'm sure all would agree there is still work to be done there. But even in a game like the new Tomb Radier, which is pretty universally acclaimed for its portrayal of Lara Croft, much of the interpersonal dynamic is between Lara and her male mentor types, or her female best friend who she needs to protect.)
I'm not sure if I have a real conclusion to this; I just wanted to share a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a few weeks now, and to see whether you guys might have some additional thoughts on the subject.
-CM
Something that has occurred to me over the last few years is that I am a big fan of sibling- or family-style relationships, or more generally of mentor-mentee relationships, in both comics and in media in general: I really loved the relationship between Boromir and Faramir in Lord of the Rings, for instance, and the Booker-Elizabeth dynamic in BioShock Infinite, not to mention the intricacies of the Bat Family, and of the Fantastic Four. (And before that, my gateway back into comics, after many years, was a desire to collect the Grant Morrision run on Teen Titans, since pre-New 52 Tim Drake is my all-time favorite comics character -- and MAN could I go off on how much I hate what the New 52 did to him, but I won't -- and Chris Claremont's X-Men.)
However, what I have noticed while examining this dynamic in fiction, and why I like it so much, is a facet of the family dynamic that is fairly lacking. In Big Two comics (which are the easiest to quantify), there are countless of examples of male mentor-male mentee (the various Robins being the most obvious), as well as several examples of male mentor-female mentee (Batgirl and Supergirl come to mind, albeit not so much New 52 Supergirl, as well as Wolverine and Kitty/Jubilee/whatever) and there are even some examples of FEMALE mentor, female mentee -- the most prominent I can think of off the top of my head being Diana and Donna/Cassie, or Storm and Kitty Pryde -- or, for that matter, the complex relationship between Emma Frost and Kitty.
However, there is little to no portrayal of a female mentor, MALE mentee, both in comics and in other mainstream media, as far as I can tell. The closest instance I can think of in Big Two comics is the Fantastic Four (Sue and Franklin), and even that is a bit unfair as it is portrayed in the midst of the overarching family dynamic of the series. (Similarly, there seemed to be a bit of this dynamic with Starfire, in the Morrison run on Teen Titans -- and, as I understand it, with the Outsiders as well -- but I'm only beginning to collect the Morrison TT run, and have never read the Outsiders, so I don't know if this is true or not.) Please -- PLEASE -- feel free to correct me if I am overlooking something, as I am more than a bit behind on stuff, and not as familiar as I'd with some areas of the Big Two; even if I am overlooking some small examples, I believe my overall point still stands that the surrogate mother-son type of relationship is underrepresented in comics -- and, I believe, in fiction as a whole. (There isn't, for example, and Wonder Woman and Wonder BOY dynamic.) I could cite examples for other media as well, but I hope the few I gave above (Boromir-Faramir, and Booker DeWitt as the player character -- or, for that matter, the Leon-Ashley relationship in Resident Evil 4, a personal favorite despite some of its stupidity) illustrate my point succinctly.
(This is not, I must clarify, meant to say that women aren't treated well as characters in media -- or, at least, that their treatment is improving; I'm sure all would agree there is still work to be done there. But even in a game like the new Tomb Radier, which is pretty universally acclaimed for its portrayal of Lara Croft, much of the interpersonal dynamic is between Lara and her male mentor types, or her female best friend who she needs to protect.)
I'm not sure if I have a real conclusion to this; I just wanted to share a thought that has been percolating in my mind for a few weeks now, and to see whether you guys might have some additional thoughts on the subject.
-CM
